The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, presented, on Sunday September 17, on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, an emergency plan to help Italy manage the record arrival of migrants on its territory. This plan is supposed to combine firmness against smugglers and facilitation of legal channels of entry into the European area for candidates eligible for asylum.
After visiting, with the head of the Italian government, Giorgia Meloni, the reception center for migrants on the small island, Mme von der Leyen detailed a ten-point aid plan, intended to manage the current situation, to better distribute applicants between European countries and to prevent the repetition of episodes of mass arrivals, which put severe strain on capacity. logistics and administrative functions of the peninsula.
Brussels first intends to step up assistance to Italy from the European Union (EU) Agency for Asylum and the EU’s coast and border guard agency, Frontex, in order to to ensure the registration of migrants, fingerprinting, interviews, etc. Frontex, and other agencies, will also have to intensify surveillance of the seas and “study options for expanding its naval missions in the Mediterranean”.
The Commission wants to facilitate the transfer of people arriving in Lampedusa – who are usually taken by boat to Sicily or the continent – including to other European countries. “Irregular immigration is a European challenge that needs a European response”insisted Mme von der Leyen during a press briefing in Lampedusa. “We urge other member states to use the voluntary solidarity mechanism”she said, without mentioning Germany which recently decided to no longer receive migrants who arrived in Italy.
“Increase awareness campaigns”
The plan also plans to improve dialogue with the main emigration countries on this route with a view to the readmission of their citizens, who do not meet the asylum conditions, in particular Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Burkina Faso. Agreements are also planned with countries of origin and transit to curb the number of departures, in particular Tunisia where the vast majority of people arriving in Lampedusa come from.
The EU signed a partnership with Tunisia in July intended to reduce migrant arrivals on Italian coasts in exchange for financial aid. Mme von der Leyen said on Sunday that the EU should accelerate the payment of this aid to Tunis and Mme Meloni raised the possibility of European aid to help the country balance its budget even though the International Monetary Fund conditions the granting of a credit of 1.9 billion dollars to the adoption of reforms that the President Kaïs Saïed.
Finally, the Commission wishes “increase awareness and communication campaigns to discourage Mediterranean crossings” all in “continuing to work to offer alternatives such as humanitarian admission and legal pathways” immigration.
“A European challenge”
Thousands of migrants arrived this week in Lampedusa, reigniting the thorny debate on the sharing of responsibilities within the EU. For Giorgia Meloni, “it is the future that Europe wants to give itself that is at stake here, because the future of Europe depends on Europe’s capacity to face the major challenges”, like these uncontrolled migratory flows. She criticizes her European partners for lacking solidarity towards Italy, which has welcomed nearly 130,000 migrants into its territory since the start of the year.
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Mme Meloni and Mme von der Leyen went to the port where dozens of makeshift boats are moored on which candidates for exile sail, most often departing from Tunisia. The Italian Interior Minister, Matteo Piantedosi, as well as the EU Home Affairs Commissioner, Ylva Johansson, also made the trip.
Residents unhappy with these massive arrivals greeted the officials at the airport, threatening to block their procession. “We are doing everything we can”replied Mme Meloni, adding: “As usual, I take personal responsibility. »
Gérald Darmanin expected in Italy
This migration crisis has been the subject of intense diplomatic activity for three days. A conference call on Saturday brought together the French, Italian and German interior ministers, a representative of the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union and Mr.me Johansson.
Gérald Darmanin will go to Italy “in the coming days”agreed on Saturday Mme Meloni and Emmanuel Macron, promising to “strengthen cooperation at European level (…) to find effective, immediate and longer-term solutions to this crisis”, according to Paris. The government spokesperson, Olivier Véran, assured RTL Sunday midday: “We want to face it with cohesion, solidarity and realism. It is not by working alone, each at home, that we will get there. »
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, announced on Sunday that the question of immigration would be on the menu of two summits planned for October, and the head of Italian diplomacy, Antonio Tajani, expressed his intention to do so. impose on the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly next week in New York.
Located less than 150 kilometers from the Tunisian coast, the island of Lampedusa is one of the first stopover points for migrants crossing the Mediterranean hoping to reach Europe. Every year during the summer, tens of thousands take to the sea on makeshift boats. A total of more than 127,000 migrants have landed on Italian shores since the start of the year, almost double compared to the same period in 2022.